Sunshine and an Open Gate

By Brenda Black


They bolted like school children released for recess, with tails curled up and over their backs. Weaned calves in a lot out back of the house provided my afternoon entertainment.Through the newly opened gate they darted as if hearing the starting bell on a race track. I giggled at their athletic antics. One would tear across the pen like she was making a great escape, only to charge a matter of a few yards before meeting the metal rungs of the corral – face to fence. In one swift spin, she'd turn and run again, this time with the rest of the herd in hot pursuit.

For several minutes, their game of tag and turn and sprinting continued. When the running waned, they stood head to head and practiced butting. If calves could smile, I'm pretty sure they were grinning from fuzzy ear to fuzzy ear with great delight. The mild and sunny day in the middle of a cold January was most welcome to the weanlings and offered up a healthy dose of doldrum-ending exercise.

It didn't take much to alter their routine and find it delivered such great joy. Sometimes all one needs is a bit of sunshine and a little more room to roam. Take me for instance. I get a bit stir crazy post holidays. I begin to feel cramped for space and eager to purge. It's like spring cleaning in winter when the Christmas tree comes down.

I broke an all-time record this year of leaving the greenery up all too long. It was Jan. 13, by the time I got everything packed away! Never in my life have I gone past the single digit point of the first month on the calendar when it comes to dismantling the holiday cheer. But travels and work and plain weariness had me postponing the dreadful chore.

Now that the Christmas ambiance is headed to the attic, my house seems quite spacious. In fact, I have yet to return many of my non-seasonal knick knacks back to their standard locations. I'm just enjoying the sunshine and the open gate. I feel freer and lighter and less constrained by so much stuff. I'm thinking of spring garage sales and wondering if I should just leave a lot of my things boxed up ready to affix price tags.


Life gets cold and cluttered at times. Like calves stuck in a pen where it's been snowy and cramped, we can feel constrained by symbolic fences that seem to close in on us in our homes and in our hearts.

What I haven't told you is that as much as I would like to blame the Christmas clutter for my claustrophobic feelings, it has more to do with worries that I'm struggling to turn over to the Lord. Bare walls and shelves seems to help when I feel like I'm going to suffocate from fearful thoughts of things totally beyond my control. So, for a few more days, I'm planning on enjoying the space and I'm not going to rush to fill it back up again. And I also intend to soak up the Son a whole lot more in the days ahead. For at His feet and in His light, can be found my joy and the perfect gate to freedom.

God With Us – Even After Christmas

By Brenda Black

The lights remain lit and the refrigerator overflows with leftovers. There are still baskets and trays of home baked goodies crowding the counter and calling me to continue the indulgence. Though my world seems stuffed, some parts of my heart feel empty.

I know it's coming each year when the pretty packages vacate the premises from under a sparkling tree. I feel it wash over me as I return each ornament to its original package and hide all of them in a sealed tote headed for the attic. That tangible vacuity that has for a month been filled with busyness now looms ominously spacious. The day-to-day routines of work and activities quickly consume the hours, but they do not occupy the places of my heart.

It never seems quite perfect enough – the gift given, the meal presented, the solo performance at the church program or the Christmas cards mass delivered. I worry over people forgotten, traditions broken. I hate saying goodbye to family and friends who won't be seen for months on end. On the heels of joy and festivity, the holidays melt into history. And the aftershock of Christmas throbs more like an ache than a startling shake.

At first, one may not recognize it and write it off to the fallout of sugar highs and late night gatherings. You may think you are just out of kilter as you try to shift from holiday mode to work schedules, lost on the calendar because your weekend began on Monday. But it's deeper than that, bigger than that. The vacuum exists in each of us that only the Lord Himself can fill. It won't be satisfied with presents and parties; nor food or favorite seasonal movies. Every time we try to pack our hearts with worldly pleasures intended for spiritual treasures, we'll be left wanting.

Certainly, time with family and friends and the exchange of gifts to express our affections are worthy endeavors. Nothing can replace Grandma's shared recipes or Uncle Bob reading the Christmas story. So much of our delightful traditions are permeated with valuable sentiment. But they will never be enough without God in the middle of them.

For when the lights fade, the savory smells dwindle, the gifts are gone, and family scattered, what will fill the void? The same One whom we just celebrated. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him 'Immanuel' – which means, 'God with us.'” (Matthew 1:23) 

Even when everything else departs, God remains. He deposits a gift far greater than anything we could wrap in pretty paper. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

The Lord abides so that we can continue telling and living the Christmas story. “But you will receive power when the Holy spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses...to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Christmas actually never ends when you know Jesus -- the babe-turned-man who lived and loved, died and came to life again.

“David said about him: 'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.'

“...Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear...” (Acts 2:25-33 selected)

There's no need for emptiness when God lives within and the Spirit of Christmas never leaves us. When post-holiday blues try to creep into your heart, remember there's no room because Christ continually resides there.

Pitter-Pat Perspective

By Brenda Black

Sorry, I can't help but talk about it since the only chance for rain is to bring it up in conversation. It's a disaster – literally. More than 1,000 counties in 26 states are being named natural-disaster areas due to drought; it's the biggest such declaration EVER by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Day by scorching day, more brown grass is ground into powder while ponds evaporate into searing skies. And there's not a thing we can do about it, but wait and pray and try to not go crazy with fear or worry.

And if that's not depressing enough, it's an election year. Great! More hot air! No rain mixed with all the lies and allegations that leave us desperate for someone in whom we can place genuine trust equals a parched and perturbed people. Moods are down, crime is up and hope has blown away with the incessant winds. And here we sit, steaming and stewing and worrying just how bad can it get. Stop! This meltdown needs some perspective.

While I have bemoaned my pitiful green bean crop, my tomatoes have flourished in this gigantic hot house. So I will be thankful. While the pastures have withered to dust, our cattle are holding their own amazingly well. God made them hearty. As we watch the horizon day after day, yearning for wet relief, we still have a chance at recovery. Fall is coming, cooling temps and the possibility of snow this winter are not entirely impossible here in Missouri.

Midwest weather is fickle and the humidity we often curse may well be our rescuer at some point this desperate year. Whereas those who dwell in the arid mountains and windswept plains in the Northwest have already lost everything. I just spoke with a lady in South Dakota this week. The blessed rains they prayed for brought damaging hail to the tune of 700 acres of pasture lost and 300 pairs of cows and calves without grass. And neighbors in Montana experienced the horrors of watching their livestock and land consumed by raging wildfires. I can't imagine the devastation or heartache. It's so much more than property; this marriage to the soil and the forage and the animals who dwell upon it is an extension of our very humanity. Even those in urban communities may finally realize groceries aren't grown on store shelves.

It all could be so horribly depressing, so overwhelming and defeating if it weren't for perspective. When countries are ravaged by war, fierce and hopeful leaders challenge their people to rebuild. When unplanned hardships strangle us, the resilient look in and look up for sustenance.

Look in! “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

Pray for rain. Pray for peace.

Look up! Every day, I find some obscure little cloud, or distant haze and say to my family: “That could have some rain in it.” For the most part, they scoff at me and call me crazy. But it's my way of keeping a sense of humor in the mix and expressing faith in a God who can take a cloud the size of a fist and turn it in to a gully washing! “...whatever is true...whatever is lovely...if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things...And the God of peace will be with you.” (Ph. 4:8-9 selected) Perspective.

If blistering air has chaffed your normally cheerful self, how long will you let it infiltrate every part of your life? What good does it do to gripe and fret, fuss and fume over something we cannot change without the hand of God? There's a better way even if it doesn't get wetter. Get perspective by choosing to dwell on what is good and praiseworthy. Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, when it rains and when it doesn't.

May God heal our land and help us to be patient while we wait for the pitter-pat of rain.

Experiencing a "D" Deficiency

By Brenda Black

Trolling: As much as I'd like to associate the word with big bass feeding in cool waters under low-hanging limbs, the only comparison I can readily make is I feel like the loaded, limp limb. I've been fighting that feeling you get when you have spring fever, but no spring in your step. Nutritionists and psychiatrists contend the low mood between changing seasons is often attributed to a Vitamin D deficiency following months of cloudy, cold weather and our distance from the equator. They even have a clever name for the down-in-the-dumps “D” deficiency. They call it “SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)”. How appropriate.

According to The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, some of the symptoms of SAD are fatigue, increased need for sleep, decreased levels of energy and difficulty concentrating. Check! Got all of those. Besides, I just can't seem to put my finger on this feeling except for overwhelming sadness.

Though the days are getting longer and the sun is shining brighter, current events aren't helping the condition. A heaviness sweeps over me when I think of the death and destruction our nation just witnessed as tornadoes ripped lives apart and left folks destitute and grief stricken. The death of Osama has left me more melancholy than merry, having just read Last Man Down, a personal account of a firefighter's survival and escape from the World Trade Center on that dreadful September morning in 2001. My heart goes back ten years and reminds me of the breach in safety I'd known most of my life and conjures up new anxiety over retaliation from enemies known and enemies new.

World crises and national economy can put the jolliest of souls in a funk. Why, just filling up my gas tank makes me cranky! Surely this all has something to do with Vitamin D deficiency!

It is now known that Vitamin D plays a huge part in boosting the immune system. One of the best ways to prevent colds, flu, cancer, or any chronic disease is with Vitamin D3. But I think there is more which is necessary for a remedy to the ills and worries of this world. I need a big dose of Vitamin D from the sun, plus a few other “D's” I'd like to mention.

*A Daily Dose of God's Word of encouragement. “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day...” (Acts 17:11) I'd rather be noble and eager than negative and indifferent. A study in the Scriptures helps with attitude and outlook.

*Direction that Out-Distances the gloom and doom of this world. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) This troubled world is not my home. I'm just passing through.

*Discipline. Sometimes we bring the troubles on ourselves, but God redeems it by molding us into better people. “And you have forgotten the word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

'My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.'

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

“Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 'Make level paths for your feet,' so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” (Hebrews 12:5-13)

When the sun shines on your skin, ultraviolet rays activate a form of cholesterol which is present in the skin, converting it to Vitamin D. It keeps us strong and healthy. When the Son of God shines into your soul, the Holy Spirit is activated to bolster our faith, strengthen our resolve and convert sinful humans into holy children of God. That's one powerful deity at work!

If you are experiencing the darkness of worry and fear perpetuated by the sad, but temporary circumstances of this world, then look up! Soak up some Son and think about heaven. A sure-fire cure for the ills of this world is a certain destiny. Get your Vitamin D and delight in the truth that God is not disturbed and neither do you have to be.

copyright 2011 Brenda Black